On the afternoon of December 15, Ray Crouch, a senior at Danbury High School, logged into his family’s computer and went to the website of the Yale Admissions Office. He, together with his three siblings, had collectively applied to more than 30 colleges. A message that said “Welcome to the Class of 2014” suddenly appeared in the monitor prompting Ray’s mother, Caroline, to scream with excitement.

Later that evening, Kenny and Carol, Ray’s brother and sister, also logged into the admissions website and got the identical message; a “Welcome to the Class of 2014” message in Yale blue background and an image of a bulldog, the university’s mascot. Only their other sister Martina needed confirmation if she, too, had gotten in the prestigious institution. She did as well. All four of them—who are quadruplets—got in.

The entrance of the Crouch siblings is a first for Yale — that is, four students from the same family have entered and qualified all at the same time. It is also, of course, no small milestone for the siblings, who were born more than two months premature. (Ray was the last to be released from the neonatal unit, more than four months later.)

However, like all other families in this prolonged economic recession, the Crouches know that getting into Yale is an opportunity of a lifetime but that they have to still be frugal at the same time. Whether any one of them, let alone all four, winds up at Yale remains an open question. Under Yale’s early-admission program, accepted applicants can apply to other colleges and need not make up their minds until May 1.
While the family has some savings, the four say they do not want their parents to have to pay much of anything for their education. Besides, all of them have other options if ever they do not decide to go into Yale together.

But as for Yale, it was welcomed with ecstasy by the admissions board.

“Their applications were terrific, and we simply hope that they will all decide to come!” says Jeff Brenzel, the dean of admissions at Yale.